Piper - West Blocton, Alabama
Posted by: 
xptwo
N 33° 05.116 W 087° 02.662
16S E 495859 N 3660740
Marker relating the founding of the town of Piper, Alabama.
Waymark Code: WMD8JH
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 12/05/2011
Views: 13
Piper, Alabama, was established in 1901 by the Little Cahaba Coal Company. This marker is about a half mile from the site.
Marker Name: Piper
Marker Type: Rural Roadside
Addtional Information::
The text of the marker reads:
Piper
The town of Piper was established in 1901 a half mile of northeast of here by the Little Cahaba Coal Company, named for Oliver Hazzard Perry Piper, a partner of industrialist Henry F. DeBardeleben. Two coal mines were opened in 1901 and 1903. The first was sealed in 1935 due to fire. Piper was one of the larger mining towns in the Cahaba Coal Field reaching greatest employment in 1914 with 432 miners and related workers. The Piper-Coleanor High School operated from 1931-1940. After World War II, a third mine was opened. Beginning in 1947 it was operated by the Shaw & Tutwiler Corporation. Coal was first mined in the area by N. H. Thompson and sons, W.H. and Lewis, who had moved here from Hinds County, Mississippi during the Civil War. The last coal was mined on a limited scale in the 1950s.
Erected by Former Residents of Piper and Coleanor
and the Cahaba Trace Commission, 2000.
Date Dedicated / Placed: 2000
Marker Number: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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